Norway - The London-based architects Metropolitan Workshop and Norwegian partners Arkitektkontoret Vaardal-Lunde (AVL), are designing a new conference and exhibition centre in Bergen, Norway.
Work on the centre is expected to start mid-2010 with a proposed completion date of 2012. It will be located in Bergen’s old shipbuilding docks and include offices and a five-star hotel.
Metropolitan Workshop director Neil Deely told Exhibition World his team’s winning bid proposes a canal between two buildings, bringing water into the site and allowing boats to be moored directly alongside the centre.
“The contrasting architectures of the two buildings will recall the volumes and shapes of the industrial activities once present on the site,” says Deely.
The 6,000 square metre exhibition and conference centre will have three multi-function halls, a business and meeting centre and major new offices.
Scandinavia’s largest developer GC Rieber commissioned the project, part of a major regeneration programme, as the centrepiece of the Solheimsviken area. The two architect practices recently collaborated on major planning commissions in Bergen, including Masterplan proposals for the Mindemyren district and proposals for a new bridge across Danmarksplass.
AVL director Osmund Lie describes the conference and exhibition centre as a key project for the future of Bergen. “There are huge ambitions for the transformation of the area and this project will become the centre piece of the district,” he says.
